Holyland Contest 2020….

Ken McCormick

Holyland Contest 2020 rules

Friday 17 of April – Saturday 18 of April 2020
Starting on 21.00 UTC – 21.00 UTC

Update:

  • The FT8 protocol does not allow convenient transfer of the Holyland squares and is therefore not part of the competition
  • Following the Corona, the categories of mobile and portable stations are canceled

The Aim: To promote contacts between Radio Amateurs around the globe and Israeli Hams.
To aid Amateurs to achieve the “Holyland Award” and other Israeli awards.

1. Eligibility All licensed amateurs and SWL’s worldwide.

2. Object To contact as many different Israeli amateur radio stations on as many bands, and from as many ‘Areas’ as possible in different modes CW, SSB, DIGITAL.

3. Period
Start: Friday 17 of April 2020, 21.00 UTC.
End: Saturday 18 of April 2020, 21.00 UTC.

4. Categories:
a.Single operator -MIX (all bands).
b. Single operator – SSB only (all bands).
c. Single operator – CW only (all bands).
d. Single operator –Digital mode (RTTY, PSK31) (all bands).
e. Single operator -QRP10w (all bands).
2. Multi operators – single transmitter, all modes, all bands
3. Short Wave Listeners – SWL.
5. Modes CW; SSB; Digital; MIX. ( Mixed = minimum 2 modes).
6. Bands1.8, 3.5, 7, 14, 21, 28 MHz.

According to the IARU Region-I recommendations: 3.50-3.56, 3.60-3.65, 3.70-3.80, 14.00-14.06, 14.125-14.300, 21.00-21.08, 21.20-21.40, 28.00-28.10, 28.50-28.80 MHz.

7. Exchange
Worldwide stations send RS(T) + QSO number starting with 001.
Israeli stations give RS(T) and ‘Area’.

8. Valid QSO
The same station may be contacted in CW , SSB and Digital mode on each band. It is thus possible to make up to 18 valid QSO’s with the same station if worked in CW , SSB, and Digital on each band.
Digita l mode users may work either RTTY , PSK31 , but only once on each band. RTTY , PSK31, are the same Digital mode. Neither Cross-Mode or Cross- Band contacts are not permitted.

9. QSO Points:
a. 2 points for each QSO on 1.8, 3.5 , 7 MHz.
b. 1 point for each QSO on 14 – 21 – 28 MHz.
10. Multipliers One multiplier point for each ‘Area’ worked once per band.
Note: A district ‘Area’. See explanation below.

11. Final score
To calculate the final score, multiply the sum of QSO-points on all bands with the sum of multipliers worked on all bands.

 12. Logs
ELECTRONIC Logs and Paper Logs are acceptable.

  • Electronic logs must be in ASCII text format , recommended Cabrillo format and must be upload on http://www.iarc.org/iarc/#LogUpload
  • Handwritten paper logs are still acceptable. Separate logs for each band & mode.
  • Each entry shall report: Time UTC, call sign, band, mode, RS(T)S, QSO number sent, RS(T)R (‘Area’ received) and points.

d. SWL’s shall report on Israeli stations only: UTC, band, mode, callsign, stations worked, RS(T), ‘Area’ sent and points.

  • The IARC have created a special software for the Holyland C ontest called HolyL og g er.
    The software can be installed easy from the following link:
    https://4z1kd.github.io/HolyLogger/
    The software Holy L og g er is capable to l oad the contest l og file automatically to the IARC log upload website.

13. Summary sheet :

  • All entries must be followed by a summary sheet showing station callsign, contest category, name of operator(s), address and e-mail.
  • A summary sheet shall list the number of multipliers and points scored from each band worked, the final score. & a declaration of compliance with rules of contest and own Amateur Radio License.

d. All actions and decisions of the Holyland Contest Committee are official and final.

e. Entries must be postmarked not later than May 31, 2020 (paper logs) and sent to
Contest Manager 4Z4KX,
Israel Amateur Radio Club,
Box 17600, Tel Aviv , 61176.
Upload on http://www.iarc.org/iarc/#LogUpload ,
or by e-mail:4Z4KXX@GMAIL.COM

 14. Prizes:
1. A trophy for the overall winners-Multi Ops.
2. A trophy for the overall winner- MIX
3. A trophy for the overall winner- CW
4. A trophy for the overall winner- SSB
5. A trophy for the overall winner- QRP
6. A trophy for the overall winner- Digitalmode.
7. A plaque for the overall winner- SWL.
8. A plaque for each Continental winner – only highest scores.

9 . Trophies and Plaques will be awarded to the top scorers in their Winning Categories only when the minimum of 50 valid QSO’s points has been reached.

11. OnlyDigital Certificates will be awarded .http://www.iarc.org/iarc/#Certificategenerator

  EXPLAINING THE MULTIPLIERS
1) The square system:
The country is divided geographically, by the Survey Department of Israel, into a grid system resulting in squares of 10 by 10 Kilometers. North to South coordinates are identified by numbers, while West to East coordinates are identified by letters. The square is defined through the combination of the relevant coordinates i.e. E14.

2) The Administrative System:
The country is divided into 23 administrative regions and regions are not multipliers!
Here is a list of the Regions and their respective abbreviations:

Akko AK Hagolan HG Kinneret KT Telaviv TA
Ashqelon AS Haifa HF Petah Tiqwa PT Tulkarm TK
Azza AZ Hasharon HS Ramallah RA Yarden YN
Beer Sheva BS Hebron HB Ramla RM Yizreel YZ
Bethlehem BL Jenin JN Rehovot RH Zefat ZF
Hadera HD Jerusalem JS Shekhem SM    

3) The ‘Areas‘ (multipliers):

An ‘Area‘ (multiplier) is made up from the 10 by 10 km. grid reference square and the region. For example: F15TA, E14TA, H08HF. The ‘Area’ is the basis for the “Holyland Award” and the “Holyland DX Contest”. For that purpose the ‘Area’ must contain land and only that land or any waterway in that ‘Area’ is considered to be the ‘Area’.

4) Region Boundaries:
The region boundaries are drawn in an arbitrary manner so that often the 10 km grid reference square does cover more than one single region. For example, the square H08 lies partly in the region of Haifa, partly in the region of Hadera and partly in the region of Yizreel. As a result one may work, in the same square, three different Areas – H08HF, H08HD and H08YZ.

5) Maps:
The Israel Survey Department has printed the following maps:
1) Country Road Map with a 1:250.000 scale, comprising 2 sheets.
2) Country Road Map with a 1:100.000 scale, comprising 6 sheets.
3) Region Map with a 1:250.000 scale, comprising 2 sheets.
4) Digital Holyland Squares Map on the Web Site: https://www.iarc.org/holysquare/

The Electronics files should be named after participant’s callsign for example:

4Z4KX-ALL and 4Z4KX-SUM

All logs received by e-mail will be confirmed by e-mail .

ALL FINAL RESULTS can be found on the IARC Web Site:http://www.iarc.org/iarc/#LogUpload

http://www.iarc.org/iarc/#HolylandLogs

http://www.iarc.org/iarc/#HolylandResults (2000-2019years)

http://www.iarc.org/iarc/#Certificategenerator (2000-2019 years)

Best 73’s & Shalom,

MARK STERN 4Z4KX
IARC CONTEST MANAGER
4Z4KXX@GMAIL.COM